The year was halfway over and I noticed that a handful of students were still having a difficult time working through the artistic process in order to create interesting, dynamic, and individualized work of art. These students were amazingly creative and talented- but still struggled to go from their idea to a completed piece successfully. After thinking about what I could do to take them to the next step- I formed a new lesson: Emotional Breakdown. Not only would we focus on emotion within a work of art, but the artistic process would be broken down and chunked so the students could see why each part was important. Students viewed artwork that conveyed emotion. Each student was asked to pick an emotion and set up 4 pages in their sketchbooks for the project. Students were told that they had to have to GAP (Get Approved Please) after each page before they could move on to the next. Setting Up and Breaking Down: On page 1, students had to write down what emotion they picked and find 1-3 quotes or song lyrics that showed that emotion. I told the students they may use the quotes and lyrics in their work- but they could also choose to just use them as inspiration. The rest of the page was to be used for brainstorming, doodling, or noting research about that emotion. Page 2 was used for thumbnail sketches. Students were told they had to do at least 4 thumbnails to get their ideas down on paper before they moved on to the rough draft. I have found that understanding the difference between a thumbnail and a rough draft is tricky for my middle school age group- but this project helped them to understand a little more clearly. Students were asked to talk to their tablemates about their ideas and thumbnails before getting the page approved. For page 3, students were asked to pick one of their previous thumbnail sketches and to create a rough draft. I explained how the rough draft needed to flesh out the ideas from their thumbnail sketches. We had a class discussion about how a rough draft was the step between thumbnails and a final copy. It was a place for mistakes, and changes, and it did not need to be perfect. I reminded them that they could change their ideas as they went and nothing was carved in stone. If something was not working or if the emotion was not being displayed in the piece- they could come up with something new. On page 4, students wrote a short description of how their artwork will look. They had to write down step by step the process they would use in order to create the art. I likened this to a writing a lab report in science class. Up to this point in the year students had been introduced to a variety of media. I set up their supply area with watercolor color and Prismacolor pencils but the students knew from the beginning of the project that they could choose a different medium if they wanted to do so. Students were prompted to talk to their table group multiple times during the project in order to get informal feedback on their work. Students worked on the Emotional Breakdown project for 2 ½ weeks. The projects covered a range of emotions and media. Students used Prismacolor pencils, watercolor, sharpie, pencil, acrylic, chalk, and oil pastel. Other notes and ideas:
So... my question to you now is... Are you ready for YOUR emotional breakdown?
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AuthorArtist living and teaching in Georgia. Archives
March 2019
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